I grew up and went to school in Moscow, Russia. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM) in 1976 with the diploma in Applied Mathematics (a rough equivalent of the MS degree.) I started my research with Mikhail Agranovich who was (and still is) a professor in MIEM. After couple of years, I decided that I would like to move to the US. That move took time, but, finally, in 1987 I found myself in Boston, MA. I went to Graduate School, and in 1989 I got my PhD in Mathematics from MIT. Victor Guillemin was my dissertation advisor. For two years, I was an Adjunct Assistant Professor in UCLA, and, from 1991, I am on the faculty in the University of Arizona.